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SOCIALMEDIAREVOLUTIONS – WHYDOTHEYFAIL ?

If you are familiar with my blog , it would not be a surprise to know the fact that I am not a huge fan of social networking .For me it is a world far away from reality where everyone assume fake identities to fulfill their perversions . It is like a village assembly in a universe of masked men , where these men shout their throat out for no reason , as nothing could be tracked back to any particular person , Sadly , the proponents of social media are quiet vocal about the democratization their medium have brought about in the society. This platform they say ,have given voices to millions of grievances , resulting in political upheavals against oppressive regimes and autocratic rulers. What they fail to recognize is the fact that a crowd of masked men without a convergent ideology is nothing short of a herd of wild animals , which when allowed to roam free will first kill others and then start fighting one another resulting in unending strife.

These social media revolutions start with a sane voice (masked though) , who meticulously analyze a situation and raises her voice against what is the root cause of degradation . initially the analysis is shared among the like minded anonymous members , Later it is picked up by one or many propaganda machines who adapt it to their whims and fancies , hence growing into a movement , With every additional member the initial idea gets distorted and when the simmering explodes , sane voices are drowned by a roar , one which makes no sense .Though started in Tunisia in 2011 , it was Egypt that took it to the next level with the power of social media being celebrated at the tahrir square , Millions of Egyptians who took to the streets demanding better economic conditions , soon turned into an anti regime protest , culminating with the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak . The new Muslim Brotherhood government divided the movement right in the middle turning it into two camps – the brotherhood and the secular . Coptic Christians were the first targets , then the Sunnis started turning on themselves , killing each other in the most barbarous of ways . These fissured lines were used by the people at helm of the previous regime ( The Army) to return to power . Though a full blown civil war was averted , nothing special was gained , Syria was not as lucky . President Bashar Al Assad is no Hosni Mubarak , and like his father he is ready for a long drawn conflict .

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Due to the so called “mass involvement” these social media revolutions tends to get undue coverage in the real media . It may also be due to the fact that the mainstream media these days finds sanity irrelevant in front of eye balls .Indian elections last year were the most celebrated in the history , with it Facebook and twitter broke new grounds . Live tweets filled with abuses scrolled our tv screens for over 6 months. If they were to be believed the Indians would have voted NOTA as our Prime Minister , but at the polling stations masks came off and the country elected a government with a clear mandate for the first time in 30 years . India Against Corruption and its leaders fizzled out at jantar mantar sittings itself leaving behind the AAP . Though started as a platform on social media aam admi party seems have learnt the lessons of responsible governance leaving behind the utopian society it once preached . Today , Mr Kejriwal , according to me is on the right path as he restructures the AAP into a political party with himself at the helm .

A narrow , purpose driven revolt without an ideological backbone or a charismatic leader is a recipe for disaster , as is the case with Arab Spring . Many competing ideologies will survive under a single banner in the long run only with a leader of excellent caliber or a team of leaders with a shared vision . The social media makes each and every user a leader , who over time become a liability to the whole purpose in hand . They want change but never really comprehend what this actually means to them , frustrations of all sort are directed against those in power , the resulting anarchy leads to a power vacuum which ultimately destroys itself.